Ioffe is a
lunar impact crater
An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...
on the
far side of the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
. It lies to the south of the walled plain
Hertzsprung, and is attached to the southwestern outer rim of
Fridman. Only a short stretch of
terrain
Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...
separates Ioffe from
Belopol'skiy to the southeast.
This is a relatively youthful crater, with a well-defined outer rim and a
terrace
Terrace may refer to:
Landforms and construction
* Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river
* Terrace, a street suffix
* Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
d inner wall. Nevertheless, the outer rim has been marked by subsequent impacts. A smaller crater lies along the rim edge where Ioffe is joined to Fridman. There is also a small craterlet along the northwestern rim. The interior floor is relatively level, with the exception of a low, uneven ridge of material that stretches from just east of the midpoint to the south-southwestern inner wall. The interior is free of impacts of note.
It was named after
Abram Ioffe
Abram Fedorovich Ioffe ( rus, Абра́м Фёдорович Ио́ффе, p=ɐˈbram ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ ɪˈofɛ; – 14 October 1960) was a prominent Soviet Union, Soviet physicist. He received the USSR State Prize, Stalin Prize (1942), the ...
, a prominent Russian/Soviet scientist.
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Impact craters on the Moon